Hair dye trends: are they ruining your hair?

There are so many different hair dye trends around at the moment, from rose gold to unicorn hair.

With the popularity growing we at the Harley Street Hair Clinic, have decided to look into these trends and what it takes to get your hair looking magical. We’ll be discussing if the constant upkeep is damaging your hair.

The rise in hair dye trends?

Each year we see different trends emerge, both in terms of fashion and beauty. This year we have seen a handful of brightly coloured hair dye trends emerge. Two of the most popular being brightly coloured unicorn hair and rose gold hair, which have both boosted in searches over the last year.

These hair dye trends seem like a little bit of fun to start off with, but the reality is they take a lot of upkeep and maintaining your brightly coloured locks can result in a great deal of hair dye being applied. Today we’re going to look into how these hair dye trends are affecting your hair and can they actually cause hair loss.

How does hair dye affect my hair?

Wanting these colourful hair dye trends usually means you need a light blank canvas to start on, which in most cases means you’ll need to have quite light blonde hair to then get the bright colours over the top.

Unless you’re a lucky natural blonde you’ll have to start with bleaching your hair until it’s light enough to put your bright dyes over the top. Peroxide which is used to bleach your hair works to break down natural hair pigment, this can be very drying to the hair and can contribute to the damage of your hair.

Next up is your hair dye, to help you achieve your desired bright colour. A lot of hair dyes contains ammonia, which after continuous use can damage the hair. When you dye your hair the dye doesn’t just run across the hair and stain it, it actually has to break through a couple of barriers in order to set permanently.

In order to get into the hair shaft, it has to get through the hairs natural protection – the cuticle. The ammonia in the dye lifts the cuticle up to let the molecules of the hair dye in.

The biggest issue with brightly colour hair is it takes a lot of upkeep; it can fade quite quickly and often need topping up. As we’ve discussed above, bleaching and dying your hair can cause it to be quite dry and over time your hair can form split ends and eventually snap.

Does hair dye cause hair loss?

We often get questions from female clients asking if their hair loss is linked to dying their hair a lot in their younger years. The answer is no, there is no scientific evidence that dying your hair will lead to extra hair loss.

It is proven that hair dye does make your hair dry and brittle, which can lead to damage hair. However, if you don’t dye your hair in excess and you regularly have it cut to remove split ends your hair should remain in fairly good condition.